Famously referred to by National Geographic as “the most dangerous eight seconds in sports,” bull riding pits an athlete 20 one-on-one against a bull 24 weighing as much as 2000 pounds in a showdown so hazardous that one or two bull riders 20 per year lose their lives to the competition. Notwithstanding the ever present peril, however, and much to the excitement of nearly two million annual live event attendees and another 100 million annual television viewers, bull riders 20 are spurred on by the thrill of the action, and the desire to test their skills, tenacity and daring against the mighty bulls 24, to continue to participate in the sport. With the sport likely only to increase in fan popularity and rider participation, improvements in rider safety become ever more important.
To this end, promoters of bull riding have gone to great lengths to provide the bull riders 20 with additional protection from the bulls. For example, improved helmets and a specially designed protective vest 23 have greatly contributed to a reduced injury rate. Unfortunately, however, one danger that persists notwithstanding its often tragic consequences is the risk that the bull rider 20 will be unable to successfully free his or her riding hand 21 from the bull rope 29 during dismount, especially in the case of being bucked off from the bull 24. When such a “hang up” happens, the bull rider 20 is almost never able to reach the bull rope 29 with his or her free hand 22 and, as a result is completely dependent on the bullfighters or horsemen for what is very likely lifesaving assistance. Until the bullfighters and horsemen are able to reach the bull 24 and gain control over the bull rope 29, however, the bull rider 20 is in grave danger of being trampled by the bull 24 or slammed into the arena fence or bull chutes. In any of these situations, serious injury or death is a very probable result.
With the shortcomings of the prior art clearly in mind, it is therefore an overriding object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus through which a harness may be quickly and reliably removed from an animal, removal therefrom being possible through remote control.